As the season draws closer, you'll read a lot about the next step — from 8-8 to the playoffs — being the toughest of all. Don't believe a word of it. All the steps are tough

Hagar

06-01-2008, 10:52 AM

Good article. I usually don't like Justice as a writer but this was pretty good.

Corrosion

06-01-2008, 10:57 AM

Good article. I usually don't like Justice as a writer but this was pretty good.

I tend to agree ..... least its usually better than the useless drivel McClain try's to pass off for journalism ..... :mcnugget:

Marcus

06-01-2008, 12:09 PM

Didn't Kubiak first tell this 'celebrating' story at the Texans Draft Luncheon back in April?

I can't stand Richard Justice. Which is why I get a big kick out of it when Kubiak puts on the organ grinder hat and gets Justice to be his pet monkey.

SOLIS

06-01-2008, 12:48 PM

It's good to see that the Texans message boards are in the same boat as the Texans blogosphere when it comes to opinions about the chronicle.
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Justice should stick to covering the Astros. His personal biases leave him to be a very unbalanced reporter. He can write a decent column every now and again, but his strength is baseball coverage. His takes on football are atrocious.
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McClain is lazy. He's lazy because he is unchallenged. He's lazy because he's unchallenged and he's not changing for anyone. Old dog is set in his ways. He like the guy who is rockin' a three strand comb-over, but still sees a head full of hair when he looks in the mirror. Lost his edge a loooong time ago.
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Moral of the story: Support your local blogs (http://http://texanstalk.com/forums/showpost.php?p=928772&postcount=14).

ChampionTexan

06-01-2008, 01:37 PM

As the season draws closer, you'll read a lot about the next step — from 8-8 to the playoffs — being the toughest of all. Don't believe a word of it. All the steps are tough

Agreed that the article was better than most by Justice, and I agree that saying it's better than most isn't saying very much.

I completely disagree with the quote above. I think we can get to the playoffs this year, and I think we can become a team that regularly expects to make the playoffs, going deep into them once in a while. But going from where we were at the end of last season to that point will be harder than going from 2-14 to 6-10 or from 6-10 to 8-8. Quite frankly, I believe it's kind of ignorant to think otherwise. Fortunately, the quote isn't Kubiak's, it's from Justice, so consider the source.

SOLIS

06-01-2008, 02:00 PM

Agreed that the article was better than most by Justice, and I agree that saying it's better than most isn't saying very much.

I completely disagree with the quote above. I think we can get to the playoffs this year, and I think we can become a team that regularly expects to make the playoffs, going deep into them once in a while. But going from where we were at the end of last season to that point will be harder than going from 2-14 to 6-10 or from 6-10 to 8-8. Quite frankly, I believe it's kind of ignorant to think otherwise. Fortunately, the quote isn't Kubiak's, it's from Justice, so consider the source.

I agree. Aside from the fact that stringing together wins in the NFL is tough, especially in our division, the hurdle to jump will be the expectation to succeed. Once this team starts getting close to the tipping point, there is going to be that added pressure from the fans, the media, and most importantly, themselves. You know Schaub would like to be remembered as the one who helped right the ship. Andre wants to play for a winner. DeMeco and Mario want to lead this defense to dominance. So on and so forth.

I think they're up for the challenge. I really do. Most of the old guard is gone and the young bloods are ready to kick the door in. This should be the year when we see our fandom come to fruition.

Specnatz

06-01-2008, 02:07 PM

It's funny the things a coach will latch onto out of motivation, fear or some combination of the two. Five weeks later, it's still on his mind.

Doesn't take much to set him off, does it?

If he couldn't celebrate 8-8, it might be because he wasn't here for 2-14. After years of dismal losses and dumb decisions, 8-8 felt worth celebrating.

Maybe I am reading to much into Dick's comments, but it seems he is very condescending towards Kubiak and is trying to make fun of him, for his beliefs. Show me a coach who celbrates .500 and I will show you a coach who is not long for his job. Kubiak will not settle for complacency or settling for anything other than greatness. Seems Justice wants a coach who has not fire to be the best he can be.

Speedy

06-01-2008, 02:11 PM

Justice should stick to covering the Astros.

Justice should stick (go back) to covering the Orioles and Earl Weaver.

ChampionTexan

06-01-2008, 02:15 PM

Justice should stick (go back) to covering the Orioles and Earl Weaver.

If you ever listen to his radio show, I'm sure you realize that he doesn't have to go back - he never stopped.

Texans_Chick

06-01-2008, 02:24 PM

Didn't Kubiak first tell this 'celebrating' story at the Texans Draft Luncheon back in April?

I can't stand Richard Justice. Which is why I get a big kick out of it when Kubiak puts on the organ grinder hat and gets Justice to be his pet monkey.

Uh, yes. I believe this is word for word what was said at the luncheon. It is probably something worth mentioning even though it is old news, though I have to say it was more impactful seeing him talk about it in person.

Next best thing is seeing the video:

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv/index.asp?mm_file_id=2268&play_clip=Y

There is nothing inherently wrong about talking about old news. But you should probably add something a little extra to it.

Foof foof foofy foof.

TexanSam

06-01-2008, 02:24 PM

I'm not a fan of Justice outside of baseball either. He gets on my nerves. But I'd rather read his stuff than Solomon's junk. I wish Houston had two newspapers. That way these guys would have some competitions. But nope, we have to get stuck reading whatever they write.

CloakNNNdagger

06-01-2008, 03:36 PM

Never underestimate your opponent is a saying with which we are all familiar. But there is one my dad always used that may be even more appropriate to this discussion: There is nothing more crippling than the grip of comfort.

Norg

06-01-2008, 10:11 PM

true dat there are no easy games in the NFL all 16 games will be a hardcore battle